New Delhi: Pakistan have officially pulled out of the after their request to shift their games to a neutral venue was rejected.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) cited concerns over heightened tensions between the two countries. Following Pakistan’s withdrawal, Bangladesh have been named as a replacement in the tournament and will face India on October 27.
The tournament is set to begin on October 27 across two stadiums in Punjab, which are the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium in Jalandhar and the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium in Mohali. Jalandhar is set to hold all league-stage games from October 27 to November 2, before the action moves to Mohali for the business end of the tournament.
The semi-finals and medal games of the tournament will be held at the Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium on November 4, while the bronze-medal and gold-medal matches will be held on November 5.
Current title holders and reigning Asian Games champions India, Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, China and Bangladesh will feature in the tournament. India defended their gold medal at the 2026 Asian Games and will enter the Champions Trophy as the top-ranked team. The opening ceremony will be held on October 27, just before India face Bangladesh in their campaign opener.
Asian Champions Trophy 2026 format
The six sides will compete in a single round-robin league phase, with each team playing five matches. The teams finishing in the top four at the end of the league stage will advance to the semifinals. After Bangladesh, India will square off against China on October 29, Japan on October 30, Malaysia on November 1 and South Korea on November 2.
All five of India’s league matches are scheduled to start at 7 PM (IST). The tournament will also have three rest days on October 28, October 31 and November 3.
“The announcement of the match schedule adds to the excitement for the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026. We are delighted to welcome the teams from across Asia to Punjab and look forward to witnessing some high-quality hockey,” said Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey.
India are the most successful team in the Asian Champions Trophy history, having won the title five times in 2011, 2016, 2018 (joint winners with Pakistan), 2023 and 2024. The hosts will now look to win another trophy when they face Asia’s best in front of a passionate home fans in Punjab.